Systems and methods for additive manufacturing are generally described. According to certain aspects, endcaps optically coupled to optical fibers of additive manufacturing systems are provided. In some aspects, methods for reducing a power area density of laser energy within an endcap are provided. The endcaps described herein may be used to at least partially mitigate thermal cycling that may result from the transmission of laser energy through interfaces of an additive manufacturing system.

A semiconductor device including a singulated structure and an optical fiber assembly is provided. The singulated structure includes a photonic die, an electronic die connected to the photonic die and an optical element over the photonic die. The optical fiber assembly is disposed on a top of the singulated structure and includes a holder and an optical fiber structure. The holder keeps an air gap from the optical element. The optical fiber structure is carried by the holder and configured to be optically communicated with the photonic die through the optical element.

Optical connectors that substantially preserve alignment and are easy to manufacture. The alignment system using the optical connectors disclosed herein include a first housing, a second housing and an alignment component, the said alignment component configured to provide optical alignment between the optical components.

An optical out-coupler unit for out-coupling light from a waveguide, comprising a substrate having a planar top surface, a waveguide arranged on the top surface of the substrate and having a facet, a reflective surface, wherein the reflective surface is arranged spaced apart from the facet and opposing the facet, wherein the reflective surface is inclined with respect to a normal to the top surface of the substrate by more than 45°. The optical out-coupler may be part of a photonic integrated chip (PIC).

A first optical waveguide layer and a second optical waveguide layer are optically connected by a resin optical waveguide composed of a resin core composed of a light-transmitting resin and a cladding composed of air surrounding the resin core. A hollow outer wall structure that houses the resin optical waveguide is provided. An enclosed space is provided inside the outer wall structure. The outer wall structure is disposed to bridge the gap between the first optical device and the second optical device.

A first optical waveguide layer and a second optical waveguide layer are optically connected by a resin optical waveguide composed of a resin core composed of a light-transmitting resin and a cladding composed of air surrounding the resin core. A hollow outer wall structure that houses the resin optical waveguide is provided. An enclosed space is provided inside the outer wall structure. The outer wall structure is disposed to bridge the gap between the first optical device and the second optical device.

Arrays of fiber pigtails can be used to project and receive light. Unfortunately, most fiber pigtail arrays are not aligned well enough for coherently combining different optical beams. This imprecision stems in part from misalignment between the optical fiber and the endcap spliced to the end of the optical fiber. The endcap is often polished, curved, or patterned, causing the light emitted by the endcapped fiber to refract or diffract as it exits the endcap. This refraction or diffraction shifts the apparent position of the beam waist from its actual position. Measuring this virtual beam waist position before and after splicing the endcap to the fiber increases the absolute precision with which the fiber is aligned to the endcap. This increase in absolute precision reduces the deviation in virtual beam waist position among endcapped fibers, making it easier to produce arrays of endcapped fibers aligned precisely enough for coherent beam combining.

An optical module according to the present invention includes: an optical device including an optical waveguide chip; an optical fiber block bonded to and arranged on an end face of the optical waveguide chip; an optical fiber that has one end optically connected to the optical waveguide chip via the optical fiber block; an optical fiber holding mechanism for holding the other end of the optical fiber; and an optical fiber carrier. The optical fiber is arranged while being curved from the optical fiber carrier toward the optical fiber block in a U-shape, and a wall structure is formed on the surface of the carrier while being adjacent to the optical fiber at, for example, a position on the outer side of the U-shaped curve of the optical fiber position at which the wall structure reduces a normal force of the optical fiber.

A fiber-optic point probe for a distance measurement system has an optical fiber that can be connected to a light source or an evaluation device. Illumination light is transmitted via the optical fiber to a beam-forming element and is converted into beam-formed illumination light. The beam-formed illumination light is guided along a first optical axis to a planar surface of a deflection element and is reflected thereby. The beam-formed illumination light reflected on the planar surface spreads along a second optical axis, exits on a spherical end surface of the deflection element and forms a focused illumination beam having a focus area outside of the deflection element. An object surface arranged in the focus area can be probed such that a distance relative to a probe internal reference surface can be determined in a contactless manner.

A biological sensing apparatus includes an optical waveguide substrate, a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) layer, and a lossy mode resonance (LMR) layer. The optical waveguide substrate includes a light input end and a light output end opposite to each other, and a biological sensing area is formed on one surface of the optical waveguide substrate between the light input end and the light output end. The SPR layer includes a metal layer and a plurality of biological probes. The metal layer is arranged on part of the biological sensing area, and the plurality of biological probes are evenly arranged on the metal layer. The LMR layer is arranged on part of the biological sensing area, and the LMR layer and the SPR layer are not overlapped. The present disclosure further includes a biological sensing system and a method of using the same.